Photograph This!

Shoot what you like with a touch of ring flash.

2011-10-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

The client that will give you the most creative freedom..is yourself. I often shoot
things that I have got for myself (even if sometimes it means waiting before I wear/use them).
Well, they obviously inspired me, so. You will be pleasantly surprised how a client will then like
what you have shot and ask you for a similar look.

This time I picked these shoes from Above and Below, a small company in London that make unique sneakers. They are made of reused fabric from the London Tube and recycled leather. Pretty neat uh? Their website even has a soundtrack that is rather spot on.

So the shot: the scheme was fairly standard: gridded spot behind/above, side speedlite behind the shoes and on camera left (made sure that it did hit the logo), ring +softbox as fill. The color scheme was a play on the dominant colors: green and blue. I added layers of magenta (shadows) and yellow (highlights) to highlight them. As a final touch I dialed down the contrast on the highlights to give the image a bit of a 'film' look.

Now excuse me while I go on a walk...

At the Mima Mounds, where we lay our scene.

2011-09-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Photographers like to complain that a fun photo gig is hard to find and that and a client fun to work with is rare. But, this last June I got proof that fun shoots and clients do exist and sometimes come together! Two clients actually, who needed a portait, were not afraid to experiment, came with good ideas and a budget to do things right. Awesomeness. I had met with them a couple of weeks before. The theme of the portrait was 'Life is a Journey'. So I suggested to shoot at a location that had a feeling of remoteness to it (but was just a couple of hours drive from a large city) and to bring objects that where meaningful to them to the shoot. You can see my clients looking cool in this image, a shot of the set taken with the final lights set up. It shows the position of the assistant, whom I had to take out in post for the final shoot. He has to stay close to the subjects to make sure the light on them is soft.

The location is the Mima mounds, a little park South of Olympia, WA. It is a vast natural area with an almost geometric pattern (the mounds!) surrounded by tall trees. They frame the scene nicely, and I am a sucker for tall prairy grass. Moreover a path goes through the grass and allows easy movement of props and equipment. The team included me and two assistants. I decided to shoot with the 7' PL umbrella as fill next to camera and the softlighter as key to camera right. I wanted enough power to underexpose the sky 1.5 stops, so for a scene this big speedlights would not cut it. I love them because they are so portable, but sometimes one has to use the big guns! I used two Einstein heads, which did the job without flinching. The large softbox is well, very large and does not like the wind. So we rigged it to the ground with some ropes and tent stakes. As we had everything pretty much planned the whole shoot took just a couple hours. I used a different palette for the final image, but this one is a bit more eery and it works well for my portfolio. The lighting striking from the Softlighter is not coming from the Einstein head, it's a break in the clouds from which the Sun shone through for a few seconds. Sometimes a photographer gotta be fast.

Backstage Video! Courtesy of BossnotBoss

2011-09-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

BossotBoss is a cool blog designed and built by Christopher Martin, Hamilton Boyce and the (oh so) dangerous Selena Goodwin.

BnB followed me on the 'Children's Songs' shoot and interviewed me on a desert island!
It was great fun (especially going around on the paddling boats). Here is the video that they recently posted.

Fabio Governato Interview from BossnotBoss on Vimeo.

Soft light on Jade for Veridis Clothier

2011-09-01T09:47:00.001-07:00

I have been shooting for a male fashion client and for one of the shoots we hired a female model (who do you think is going to buy those shirts for him anyway? Right?). Enters Jade, who was super great to work with. My stylist Tiffany and I borrowed clothes from a local store, the excellent 'Veridis Clothier', an independent fashion store in Seattle. The location of this image is a great garage in Capitol Hill. Wood floors, large windows, completely empty but a free giant prop in the form of a vintage Ford truck? Perfect. Shot with a Canon speedlite mounted on a Softlighter at camera right. The image is a superposition of a colored layer and one closer to the original to preserve skin and clothes colors.

Iceland or Bust! A long walk on the Koljur Trail.

2011-07-20T14:37:00.001-07:00

You can see a few more in this gallery.

I have been on a short trip to Iceland that included a few days backpacking in the Highlands.
It's pretty up there and I got a few pictures back.Reykjavik is small and lovely, although I got lucky with the weather me thinks....
I have been very impressed by the quality of the fashion/editorial photography there. The style
is a bit darker than in the US... I would love to work for small companies as Geysir, KronKron or 66North.

Children's Songs

2011-06-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

Colin is finishing a collection of children songs and he asked me to shoot a few images of him together with his daughter Corinne. I had seen her wearing her giraffe PJ and I thought it would have made for a nice, quirky touch. We shot on a blustery day using a softlighter and an Alien Bees' Einstein head. F5.0. 20mm, 1/320th. When they started singing one of their songs...I realized Corinne is an excellent singer! The whole crew (2 assistants, two videographers, Corinne's mom, my friend Martin and his son Bruno), stopped in their tracks, only to sigh a collective 'awwww' at the end. I surely got a good image out of their performance!
It reminds me of the old movie "Paper Moon". The effect of the flash is very subtle, but that is how I wanted it.

You can see the rest of the set here, including another image of Martin and Bruno. This time the Softlighter is a lot closer and it overpowers the Sun. For an image of another man on pier shot with a Softlighter you may want to take a look at this backstage video.

Speaking of which, "Bossnotboss" was on set and filmed a few takes of the shoot. Excited to see how their video will come out!

Ring Flash for fashion: Yokoo Scarves!

2011-04-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

For this set I shot three scarves from Yokoo, a fancy knitter from Atlanta. Her great designs have been featured on the NYT. I wanted a look more sculpted than what is usually done for this kind of fashion (think Antrhopologie). The set up is the evolution from the one I had used recently for the Baby & Co. store: beauty dish high at camera left, strip behind model on camera right, gray background and flags.

This time I added a ring flash as fill. I did not need too much power (I was shooting at f5.6) and so I used the cheap ring flash modifier mounted on a 'on camera' Canon 580x II. The ring flash really defines the texture of the scarves.
The coloring was done in post and the shadow gradients in the background where enhanced in Lightroom using the gradient tool
(brightness and color, try it! It's at the top right, next to the brush in the 'develop' module). Models: Oralie, Jennifer and Amy. Make up and hair: Fiona Pepe

You can see the full set here

I have a new fancy website

2011-04-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Take a look at:

www.fabiogovernato.com

There are a lot of new (and old) pictures that I have never shown on line.

And just for you, my dear blog reader, here is a link to the 'product gallery' that is not otherwise visible from the main page.

Shooting for Baby & Co: Beauty Dish and Strip Light

2011-03-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

I was given the opportunity to shoot for Baby & Co, a fashion store in Seattle that specializes in French couture from small, independent designers. The client wanted to highlight her Spring collection, themed as "Tea in the Moroccan desert". The store set up for the campaign is pretty neat and you should visit it if you happen to be in downtown Seattle.

I had a full team: three models, MUA+hair stylist and a fashion stylist. We had better get something good! Shooting in early March was the challenge....desert? Umm. And when the weather is not your friend a plan B is necessary. We set our outdoor shoot on a roof, the silver paint turns it into a giant softbox and gives a luminous, geometric setting. My studio is downstairs so if the weather wasn't cooperating a quick strategic retreat was possible.

And in fact our outdoor session was limited to ...20 minutes, abruptly stopped by a light snowfall. I still managed to get one good shot (taken with a Canon speedlite firing at full power+diffuser).

Once back in the studio the challenge was to give a "desert feel" to the images.
The light scheme is similar to what I had used a few weeks ago: a beauty dish high on camera left (heavily masked with aluminum foil to avoid spill onto the background). However, to add a feeling of strong sunlight, perhaps seen from a darker interior, I added a gridded, full body strip light behind the models on camera right. It separates body and hair from the background and, if aimed right, provides definition to the model face.

The post production is where the mood of the campaign is set: The pallet was designed to give a sense of ancient, dusty and mysterious, and so I used warm, but heavily desaturated colors. To each image I added a distressed background pattern, set as an 'overlay' layer with a 20% opacity, which I mostly erased in front of the models. It adds to the feeling of ancient times and somehow reminded me of some of the setting in the good old Indiana Jones movies. It's a technique that should not be overdone and that I have seen used a lot in fine art but I think works well in this setting.

You can see the full set, including the outdoor image here

The best camera is the one you have with you. Part 3: more iPhone Polaroids

2011-03-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

This is the final set! From From left to right: a 'Polaroid' test shot for a Chanel bag, two doves (and a beehive just off camera) on the Milwaukee - Pacific railroad , breakfast at the Kingfish Cafe', and some rocky cliffs close to Ancient Lakes, WA. All images where edited with 'Camera Bag' and Lightroom.

The best camera is the one you have with you 2

2011-03-14T21:40:00.001-07:00

This time I picked a few 'iPhone Polaroids' that show a few places I like. From top left and clockwise: My roof on a Winter morning, a sandstorm nearby Odessa, WA, an old German cemetery in Eastern WA and some window reflections over a Capitol Hill building on a lazy Summer evening.

The best camera is the one you have with you. Part I

2011-03-09T22:01:00.001-08:00

I rarely carry a fancy camera with me, and I never shoot film...too heavy, I might break it, expensive, hard to find, images came out blurry/overexposed/shaky, have no idea if I got the shot, oh I forgot to focus, the film was not expired enough...So many excuses for a bad picture or worse, no picture at all. But I stumble into moments worth remembering almost every day! Plus sometimes I 'see' the image differently from what it actually looks in reality. I am not interested in capturing what is 'really' happening, nor I think that using film gives me a more legitimate description of what I witness. So what should I do? I often end up using my iPhone and the interpreting the image using a combination of phone apps (CameraBag, Plastic Bullett and Instagram) and postprocessing with Lightroom.

I enjoy the almost Zen simplicity of capturing a moment with a simple camera with a fixed wide angle lens and where the only controls are white balance and exposure. The post processing
allows me to create the final image as I saw it in my mind. I find the process liberating.

In this and the next two posts I will show a few examples of images taken with this approach.

The Road: Outdoor shooting with the Softlighter

2011-03-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

This shot is part of a small set of test images I have done using fashion from UK brand AllSaints. True to to their gritty/steampunk look I picked a Winter outdoor location on a nature reserve. The subject is designer I an Obermuller , band member of S nowmanplan and creator of amazing animations. The dreary winter light we often have in the NorthWest made it easy to mix natural light with my flash. It was cold and windy and too keep things easy for my freezing assistant (hello Miss Van!) we shot with a simple, but trusted set up: Canon 580x II mounted inside a boomed Softlighter II with a gold insert. The flash fired at half power. ISO 100, 50mm, f4.5 1/200th sec. That gave me the cinematic look that I was looking for. What is our hero looking at?

The shot was then burned and dodged to bring out all the details of the scene in Photoshop 5. The color palette was created in Lightroom. To emphasize the dreary, post apocaliptic, 'this can't be good' look I emphasized the browns, greens and magentas.

You can see the full set on my website. The image has been picked by the fancy blog run by design pundit Chloe Scheffe.

What Art Directors want: AllSaints, Yokoo, bad boys, rich girls ...and Chanel.

2011-02-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

I was recently having a conversation with a Seattle photo agent about things that commercial creative/art directors look for in a photography portfolio when they are hiring. This is the list we agreed on:

- shooting for your portfolio and so with a low low budget? Do not buy cheap things, borrow/return if necessary. Spend the money on a MUA/hairstylist (or trade if you can). Trade with local stores that have a web presence and require fresh images but do not have a budget specifically for that. They are also more innovative and will let you shoot the way you want it (try doing that with a paying client).

- shoot good quality/expensive items ...and make them look even more expensive.
Why? Because then you will get work for higher budget projects.

- do not shoot cute talent, shoot interesting/ethnic/publication worthy/expressive talent. I do not mind working with the same model a few times if he/she looks good on my images, especially for tests.

- do not shoot what is current now, but take a chance and try to predict what is going to be relevant in the near future in terms of looks, lighting schemes, palettes and topics. Scout on foreign magazines and websites and small photo/design publications for inspirations. If it's on Vogue or Lady Gaga says it's cool...it's already too late to be in your portfolio. I often ask designers for obscure sources of inspiration, they are good at that and have different eyes from those of a photographer, so they provide perspective.

So I wanted to shoot a portfolio image that summed up this conversation...

I like the fun challenge of location, but the weather is not great in February and it is good to brush up on the skills required for studio shoots, where everything has to be perfect and controlled (or at least fixable in post...ehm). To this I added the challenge of shooting at my studio,which is small and mostly designed for product shoots.

Ari (Filipino/Swedish heritage) is wearing a 'scowl' from Yokoo, an Atlanta based fashion designer who knits amazing pieces. Knitting is the new black...The oversized wool jacket is from All Saints (Now that the shoot is done I finally get to wear it) and the bag is a Chanel limited edition (borrowed from a large local store, thanks to 'Mr. Frederick'). I liked the idea of combining seemingly disparate styles into a common look/palette. The big topaz ring belonged to my grandma.

The lighting is simple: a flagged beauty dish powered by an Einstein 200w/sec, f16, ISO100 at camera left, soft fill light at -1.5 stops and a white board to the right. The postproduction uses different layers (high pass, paint daub and multiply....), to achieve a painterly look. Flagging was essential in a small space. Note to self: I need to get a grid for the BD.

What story does this image tell? Of a modern girl who can afford a classic bag, can mix it with a different style from a small, talented, up & coming independent designer to make it current and has a boyfriend with an urban sense of style from whom she just stole..borrowed a cozy wool jacket from a relatively new company, at least here in the States. It's a good story.

The Last from the Desert

2011-01-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

Jenny and Colin have been good friends of mine since forever. They were founding members of the very dearly missed Circus Contraption. When I asked them if they wanted to be part of my "Strange Characters in Strange Places" series they gladly said yes. The shoot was inspired by the graphics on Trader Joe's brown bags (yes, the old West guy with a spyglass). This was the last shoot of my desert trip. The image was taken at sunset on the cliffs overlooking the Columbia River, nearby Vantage, WA. It was, well, a bit windy. OK so windy that Corinne (who's three years old) could not stand up outside and had to patiently wait inside the truck for her parents to finish shooting. I was hoping to use my usual 2 softboxes set up, but with that weather..forget it. However, the white van provided the ideal large reflecting surface for a cranked up Alien Bees Einstein. Chloe "Flare Master" Scheffe bravely held a Speedlite as the key light on Jenny and we were done in 10 minutes of shooting. The final editing involved some digital color crossing, but I also used a skilled retoucher: enter Janko Williams, who made everything look the way it was meant to be. The props came from PJ Hummel marvel warehouse in Tacoma.

On to new things!

Apples with apples

2010-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

"Interesting Advertising" is the topic of this image and I have been a big fan of the iPad to show my work to clients. It is a big game changer in a small package. The image tried to translate that into a surreal setting (a downtown P-patch with the models wearing vintage dresses).

A quick run to the grocery store provided several pounds of apples...
Rachel and Lucianne were the models! Ari was my assistant. Jewelry from Rent the Runway.

Retouching: Janko Williams

Lady of the Lake: Using the Parabolic Light Modifier

2010-12-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

I shot this image last Summer, the black dress was especially made by fashion designer Isaiah Whitmore (you can see some of his work on Ink Magazine). I wanted to continue with the same
cinematic look that I have been working with for some time, but apply it to a different setting, where the focus is the dress rather then the characters. Oh..some call it fashion..but whatever. This time the nod is to Arthurian legends of old, Vivianne of the lake was strong, beautiful..and a bit dark. So there you go. Tiffany Parente did the styling, MUA and hair..and stepped in to be a wonderful model for the shoot. Danny and Ari were great assistants! Oh the light scheme... just fill from the 7' Alien Bees silver reflector with the diffuser on. The AB1600 was probably firing at full power as it was a bright sunny day. f7.1, 1/125, ISO100.

The Horse. On Camera Flash.

2010-11-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

I was day hiking on the Appennini mountains last September, when I met this small horse who was quietly grazing on the ridge I was walking on. The early morning light was beautiful and still low on the horizon, and I decided to take an image. I had my trusty canon G10, but that was it...how to get something better than just a happy snap? Think Fabio, think. Not that the horse was in any hurry but... I decided to go for a simple crosslight scheme with the sun, similar to what a lot of sport magazines do for their covers. The photographer often uses an on camera ring flash and one or two rim lights from behind the subject, depending on where the sun is. It gives that 3D feel to the image.

So I had the Sun behind the horse to camera right, underexposed until I got the sky and the landscape right (ISO 80, f4.0, 1/500th/sec) and bumped up the on camera flash (which I almost never use) until I got a good fill. I did not have an extra light to the left but I noticed that from one angle some direct sunlight hit the back of the horse..on my side. Bingo!

Not quite rim light, but it frames the horse's body quite well and it makes the image work.

Try covering it with your thumb and see how the image loses impact?

I did the color post processing at home, plus some trickery with contrast.

Sometimes you need to work with what you got.

Stranded!

2010-10-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

Models: Ian, Chelsey, Chloe.

Stylist: Tiffany Parente Connors & Elizabeth Lodowski

MUA & Hair: Tiffany Parente Connors

Props: PJ Hummel and Sabine Foster.

"Stranded", a nod to "Paper Moon" and perhaps to some old Fellini movies took a couple of months of planning (props, vintage clothing, a few items from Anthropologie) but only 45 minutes to shoot. We were on our way to Odessa, WA when I stumbled onto the perfect location. It was getting dark and we "got the image" just before a rain shower poured on the set. A quick affair. Thanks to Laurie Clark and Danny Connors for assisting! Usual lighting scheme: large diffused softbox, next to camera, smaller strobe on Softlighter at camera left.

Space Queens of Skull Mountain

2010-10-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

This the first image from the desert shoot. Inspired by B sci-fi movies of the 60ies we laid our scene in a dried lake bed, overshadowed by huge rock formations. Why are the queens battling on a strange planet? Who's winning? The weather set the mood as it was blustery and it drizzled all day. I forgot how much tulle we used but there was a lot. Make up and hair was complex and it took more than an hour. The inside of the truck was covered in mud, the sand (salt? radioactive waste? We did not ask) was covered in bullet cases of different (large) calibers and broken bottles of beer. Ah Eastern Washington. Having said that it was really a lot of fun to shoot "Space" and a great example of team work.

The light set up is a bit different from my usual. The 7' silver softbox (powered by an Einstein unit from Alien Bees) is next to camera, but there are two handheld speedlites behind our hero to the left and to the right, lighting the white cloud and adding some nice highlights. f7.1 1/200sec to darken the cloudy sky. Lens: a Tamron 16-35 f2.8, which turned out to be surprisingly sharp and it is becoming my lens of choice.

Fiona Pepe (of the Castaways and awesome photographer herself) styled the models costumes (some are from the UW theatre archive). Tiffany Parente Connors did hair and MUA and styled the models (C & C and I) on set. Laurie Clark assisted. Danny, sorry I had to erase you, you were awesome.

Done for the day? Not. We jumped on our spaceships and we headed further east....

East bound and down...(the trailer, courtesy of Ian Obermuller and Jerry Reed))

2010-10-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Central Washington from Ian Obermüller on Vimeo.

"Governato drives, Obermuller shoots" is the other title of this fun video taken with a handheld, window open, wind slapped, rain soaked Canon G10. A little more than a week ago a small group of photographers, including the world famous Laurie Clark, Chloe Scheffe and myself headed to Eastern Washington with a posse of artists & models, friends, assistants, stylists and a (diesel) truck full of props, costumes, equipment and food. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. There were dry lake beds, mud, tree stumps, swarms of mosquitoes, gale force winds, a pink flamingo on stilts, large fire extinguishers, tumble weed, old country songs on the radio and several shoots a day over a long week end and 670 miles of dusty roads.

Stay tuned for the images!

Of Wabi Sabi, film and The Five Obstructions.

2010-08-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Sunny Facer, my gloriously talented photo friend and I have challenged
each other to a photo duel. We are not as crazy as Lars Von Trier (a movie director who likes to inflict crazy projects on his willing subjects)..but close.

We had to take each other portrait in our own favorite style. The
subject got to choose the location. Sunny picked her almost empty
apartment (she is moving). I shot these two portraits with a very
simple set up: window light, a bit of fill from a speedlite mounted
inside a large softliter and some white sheets. The fun part was in
the editing where I get to play with Lightroom and Photoshop to get
that "old look" that I like.

Which comes to the second part of this post. Film? No thanks. Why?
It might seem contradictory as my photography often has a vintage/film/old camera/cheap lens look.

Mostly because I find film never gives me the amount of control on how
exactly 'imperfect' my images should look. Let's call it Wabi Sabi, which is an old concept in art. Yes often a bit of softness, vignetting, is exactly what the doctor ordered for an image,
but it should not be an excuse for sloppy images or for being passive in the creative process. Oh there I said it.

However, these days I have been playing a lot with my iPhone and some cool apps as "Camera Bag" (which simulates a number of specific film
looks) and "Plastic Bullet" (which adds some crazy artificial light leaks and coloring to your images). I would argue that it is art with creative control.

But that is for my next post.

The Mad Scientist and the Automata

2010-07-20T09:50:00.001-07:00

This image continues my series of editorial 'fairy tales' images. What is a mad scientist doing in the wilderness at sunset? Why is he holding a steel heart? Why is she split in three pieces? Is that a leather skull cap? (yes).

Dr Calamari and Achropelia are a fixture of the Seattle art scene. They worked for many years with Circus Contraption and often perform at Moisture Festival and the Triple Door. I was very excited to shoot an image of their current act (named Automata). As usual recently the process involved some marsh walking, although no snakes were spotted. Jason and Evelyn are old friends and super professional. They loaded their Contraption on a car, drove to the location, got their make up on and performed for the camera. There is no major Photoshop trick in the image apart from some playing with the color palette. So yes, Acrophelia was really split in three pieces. Or so I was told.

You can contact them here: drcalamari.acrophelia@gmail.com

I ended liking the shots with the simplest set up, an handheld Canon Speedlite shot through a diffuser high on camera left. This made the scene crosslit, as the sun was setting to camera right. I shot wide angle and had a small window of time when speedlite (at 1/2 power) and sun light evenly matched.

What would a mermaid do?

2010-07-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

What do you do when it is raining cats and dogs, there is no way to do the shoot you had planned and you have a team of 10 people huddled in a small log cabin? Enter the awesome Lara Paxton, who often swings from a trapeze/anchor in a fantastic mermaid costume. What to do? Better...what would a mermaid do? After some brainstorming and a run to the nearest grocery store we came out with this concept. The framed
seashell is a nice touch. I think Melissa came up with it. Shot with a simple speedlite and a diffuser hold by the assistant high at camera left. MUA and hair Amanda Johnson. I call it my 'unwanted child', but I learned to like this image and it is now part of my portfolio to show to the creative types. The second image is just for fun and it shows our fairy tales trio while relaxing..hi Chance and Kristin!

There comes an iPad. Take a look!

2010-06-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

I have a new iPad ready page to show my work.

Unless you have been living in a cave you probably know that photographers have been talking endlessly (and often smartly) about what the iPad will do for the industry. I got one recently, mostly to show my portfolio to clients. The iPad is certainly lighter than my printed one. I have been experimenting with different solutions, namely using iPhoto galleries and by importing the pdf version of my printed portfolio, which I can show with iBooks or GoodReader.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, I want to make sure that clients and ADs will be able to see my work from their little shiny new toys in a consistent and pleasant way. My current web site is neat, but does not allow the viewer much flexibility or control.
Enters my new iPad ready gallery. It is simple, has a great design, it is easy to upgrade and you can navigate by tapping on each image (and left and right on the big pop up ones). If you give it a go, let me know what you think.

The Lumberjack and the Ballerina

2010-06-02T01:20:00.001-07:00

This is one more image from the Port Townsend trip. It features Chance, Kristin and the mysterious magical box. This image was shot in bright sunlight using two Alien Bees packs, their large parabolic umbrella and a softliter. It took..well about 8 minutes, but a lot more in planning the setting costumes and props (the box and the crazy paper flowers..and axe). I like the old Diorama effect, which comes mostly from shooting with strobes and daylight, and some photoshop adjusting with curves and local contrast. Many people asked me if any subject/item/rock/flower was added in post...but nope. It was all there.

Splendor in the Grass

2010-05-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind...

(William Wordsworth, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality").

I am obviously on a literary artsy streak. This image was part of a week long editorial that I shot in Port Townsend, WA, loosely based on fairy tales imagery. Not quite shooting " John Huston's African Queen", but the talent and crew had to walk through marshes and tall grass, fight mosquitoes, small snakes and the customers of Fat Smitty's bar. Singer and dancer Kristin "Finn" Von Claret, and Chance Koehnen modeled. I had scouted the location in February, and by this time the old tall grass was being replaced by new green offshoots. The cloudy weather created a nice atmosphere.

We shot at noon, but I had brought the big guns to overcome sunlight. a Profoto 7B pack, two heads, a sofliter II (as fill) and to camera left the giant umbrella+diffuser from Alien Bees (which worked flawlessly). The sun was to the right. Shot at f14, 1/160th, ISO 100 and using the 16-35mm Canon lens that I really like. Having a decent amount of watts/sec helped.

The post production editing was somewhat laborious to get the grading right. In order: reduce contrast/desaturate/add gradient masks to the sky and grass close to the fill light/minor retouching of the talent/re-adding contrast were needed/curves/adding a blue-yellow palette later and masking it appropriately. Final adjustments in Lightroom.

I will make a large print tomorrow!

Of Fairy Tales: The last Sparkle brings the Darkness.

2010-05-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

I spent the last week shooting and editorial project loosely inspired by fairy tales and the environmental portrait style often seen in Vanity Fair. The subjects are a number of interesting people from the Seattle area, models, performers and photographers. They wore beautiful costumes (courtesy of the UW Theatre Archive), had their hair done and generally had fun and one of them also shoot a side project (see it here) using the same set up and helped me with the styling! This project often involved having a team of almost ten people trudging through the marshes in the Olympic Peninsula, nearby Port Townsend, WA. These images are the first I edited. They were taken with a 16-35mm lens and a large octabank and a medium softliter mounted on two profoto heads (next to camera and to camera left respectively). I underexposed the ambient by one full stop, reduced the contrast in post and then re-added it selectively where needed. Color shift to taste... I really liked they way it came out and the way it captures the magic of sunset. There will be more in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Moth House. Shooting Behind the Wings with Chloe Scheffe

2010-04-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Moth House. Shooting Behind the Wings with Chloe Scheffe from Fabio Governato on Vimeo.

Are Photography and Video converging? Video is certainly a great tool to show how things were done.
My friend and excellent photographer Chloe "Flaremaster" Scheffe did a shoot for Moth House, a jewelry designer and borrowed my studio and lights for the occasion. I filmed the whole event with a Canon 7D and 24-70 Canon lens and edited in Final Cut Pro. Tiffany Parente Connors was the hairstylist/make up artist and Chelsey Scheffe modelled. You can see Moth House jelwely and the images from the shoot at mothhouse.etsy.com. My photography web site is fabiogovernato.com and Chloe's is chloescheffe.com. And yes we both muse on photo and design stuff... Chloe at thewanderwonder.blogspot.com. Chloe made a short backstage video too..which one is the Director's cut?

Convergence of video and photography: Stop Motion with Strobes.

2010-04-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

It's not What You Think from Fabio Governato on Vimeo.

What kind of videos should a photographer make? I feel that where I can have a distinct voice is in product and beauty shots were controlled slow motion allows the viewer a more immersive experience of the product or the look that is being showcased. This is the kind of motion equivalent to holding something in your hand or to the small movements that we have during a normal conversation with another person. These videos should be able to convey a mood, without having to tell a whole story. I envision them to be short, maybe one minute or so...like umm, commercials...but prettier.

So this week I finally finished the test project of what I hope will be the first of a series. I had recently finished a shoot that involved a set of blue glass bottles and I wanted to add a bit of motion to it, so I reproduced the set up. The camera is set on a motorized dolly and it is shooting at 8 frames per second. I am using Alien Bees strobes and some software to control the small amount of flicker in post (Profoto Pro8 next time? Einstein Alien Bees?) . The images are cropped and graded in Lightroom and the video was composed together with Final Cut Pro at 24fps. There is some trickery here and there that I will detail more in future posts. I am interested in this approach instead of shooting directly in video as I can have more control (and light output) with the strobes instead of using tungsten or HMI continous ones and better quality for the individual frames. The motion came out really smooth, so run it a couple of times if it plays jerky at first..

And.. I went to see Jonsi (of icelandic band Sigur Ros). It was a great concert and inspired me with the soundtrack.

On the road again.

2010-03-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

Last week I got to shoot the Team Group Health Cycling Team. It's one of the largest "women only" cycling teams in the Pacific North West. They where practicing racing techniques on a closed course. Not for the faint hearted..but it was a fun opportunity to shoot a fast paced
sport event. I went for a "hard lights" look,that is often used on the cover of cycling magazines. I asked my trusted friends David and Judd for help. We took to the road an Elinchrom Ranger pack with a Ranger head and two Alien Bees B800 and set up camp on a straight stretch of warm asphalt.

To overcome the bright sunlight (the metadata says 1120AM) The Ranger is firing at 3/4 power to camera left, one B800 is to camera right (max power!) and another one is right behind camera and about 7 feet high, firing into a Softliter II (again at max power, no diffuser panel). The lights are converging to the spot where the leading cyclist is and the cyclists just a few feet behind are mostly illuminated by ambient light. As the Alien Bees had some trouble keeping up with the ambient light I had to push the shutter speed to ....1/500th of second (ISO 100, f9.0, 24 mm) to darken the sky. Coupled with my trusted Canon 7D the Alien Bees wireless triggers worked great and the loss of flashs light in the lower part of the frame is not visible (in the studio, where the flash 'd be the only light source you can sync up to 1/200th before banding becomes annoying). If I'd do it again I would bring the Alien Bees High Output reflector and get another stop of light from the Bees, but we managed.

In fact, I am quite happy with the final result, it captures the energy of the day! Plus the backstage reminds me..of Doctor Who for some reason...mmm maybe Judd's green sunglasses?

Strobes tests: Alien Bees against Elinchrom. Lumopro against Canon 580x II.

2010-02-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

Today I happen to have handy a bunch of different flashes I always wanted to compare. Yes. Which one is more powerful, and by how much? The best way to show this is to use a light meter, put it at ten feet from the flash set at full power and measure what people call the "Guide Number". Basically the required aperture to illuminate a subject as medium gray. This is a useful number for undiffused strobes as for them it turns that:

Guide Number = aperture x distance = constant.

So if we measured f4 at 10 feet, the guide number GN is 40, which means that at 5 feet we will achieve the same exposure at f8 (closer, brighter, and so we can use a narrower aperture).
The higher the GN, the more powerful the flash. This of course at the same ISO.

So here are the numbers, I used ISO100 in all cases. Packs and flashes were all at full power.

Elinchrom Ranger S head with standard reflector + "A" Ranger RX pack. GN 250 $2100
Elinchrom Ranger Ring Flash + "A" Ranger RX GN 220 $1500+$1700
Alien Bees B800 +standard reflector GN 130 $280
Alien Bees B400 + standard reflector GN 90 $225
Canon 580ex II (zoom 80/28mm) GN 130/90 $440
QFlash+standard cone GN 110 $1080
Lumopro GN zoom 85/28mm GN 90/71 $120
Canon 580x II + Coco Ring Flash GN 35 $440+$80

Btw, I have found another test here on Flickr. Results are similar.

So what have I learned?

1) more expensive flashes have more power and the area where they are able to light uniformly is *much* larger (and rounder!) than with the cheaper speedlites (see the image). But greater power comes with a price (and greater responsibilities, but that is another story).
2) The Canon 580x II is good! More powerful than the LumoPro and the QFlash, but *only* if you use the zoom feature. Read the manual..or pay $300 extra bucks compared to the LumoPro, which is a lot easier to use (see and extended review)...mmm.
3) The Canon+ the Coco Ring flash performs well, but the output is not that great, unless you are in studio. The zoom factor makes no difference with the Coco attached.
4) The QFlash is weak sauce for the price $1080 (head+pack)
4) The Speedlites are a tad cooler than the Elinchroms.
5) The Ranger pack has two outputs: A and B. A is 1+2/3 stops brighter.
6) the ABees Long throw reflector increases output by 1 stop! (from the Flickr Strobist group test)

Softlighter II portraits.

2010-02-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

Judson and I were asked to give a quick demonstration of the Softliter II (the one Annie Leibovitz uses) for portraits. This set up used a Softliter sl-5000 (the mid sized one) and a profoto head for the top portraits (Hey Paige!) , and a Canon 580x II for the bottom one (Mister Plax Photo trying to get the perfect Rembrandt...). Strobe was high on camera left and bounced on a white board to camera right. We used a 5D Mark II with 24-70 f2.8 USM Canon lens. You can see the Softliter reflected on the window...

Heavy Metal Shoes. Shiny Background. First test with the Canon 7D

2010-02-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

I needed a second image of the patent black boots I photographed some weeks ago, so I went for a different, more metallic style. This time I shoot from above (camera was rigged on a boom). Lights: Diffused top flood, two strip lights very (very) low on the table to give edge to the shoes. And a small softbox from below. The difference? I used a metallic, sheer textile over a plexiglass as the surface on which the shoes lay down. The image on the left uses a similar set up, but adds a blue/yellow color palette and the top light is harder.
Small trick: I used a few small plexiglass cubes to angle the shoes the way I wanted. I used photoshop layers to increase the contrast on the background and usual details clean up.
Shot at ISO 100, f11, 1/125th. 35mm, with a Canon 7D.

Updated Photo website.

2010-01-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Check it out at www.fabiogovernato.com

It's a bird! It's chocolate? ... It's books!

2010-01-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

My art director (Hi Chelsey!) likes to pick up the camera and needed a cool image of books for a conceptual poster (I think this is how designers 'd call it). So we fussed together with the lighting scheme for a bit, which turned out to be two large softboxes on top of the books and with a little space in between to place the camera, looking down on the table. There you go. Artsy. Shot with a Canon G10, which I really like for those quick.and.dirty.yet.professional jobs.

Check Chelsey Scheffe awesome work here.

Hard Punk Rock Light. Black Patent Shoes.

2009-12-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

These shoes actually smell of gasoline. The art director drawing (hey Tiffany!) had the shoes on a pile of ice so we went to the local grocery store and got a several bags of ice (2 chunks 1 solid block). Here is where my old ice axes came out useful....
I set all the ice in a big transparent plastic box with a lot of empty tupperware for fill. I put the shoes on top and off we went. The background was shot separately with a red #42 Rosco filter. I used the ring flash (a Coco modifier) in several positions to highlight different spots (the heels, the reflection on the lower edge of the shoe at the front) and put them together in post. Shot at f16, ISO 100. 1/200th with a Canon t1i. A nod to the Clash and David Clugston, who shoots with a somewhat similar style. Thanks for the inspiration!

Anthropologie Time.

2009-12-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

I love the style of the Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters catalogs.
It's graceful, simple and well, dreamy. It mixes vintage settings and tones with modern living situations. It's a look that many retail stores like and customers can relate to.
I also affectionately call it "shooting like a girl" with some envy for photographers who have mastered it (darn you Chloe Scheffe!) . The photos above are the result of me having a stab at it. The first set was shot in an old apartment in Chicago (hey Angela!). I used only window light, a large white sheet as a reflector to camera left, about 5 feet from the model and a camera almost literally grabbed from a friend who happened to be there. The second set up was almost equally minimalistic: the model (hey Tiffany!) got hair and make up done in my studio and we walked out to a small city garden in Seattle. I used a simple ring flash modifier attached to my hotshoe flash (see this post) and exposed the flash at about half a stop below ambient. Then I used Lightroom to add the "Holga/Vintage/Polaroid/Artsy" look to it.

Both sets featured several Anthropology clothes and accessories (and my dad's thirty year old scarf). What's not to like? This images would form the core of a relatively low budget ad campaign perfect for a fashion store or an up and coming apparel designer. I like.

New Web Site!

2009-10-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

I have a new spiffy web site!:

www.fabiogovernato.com

Commercial Photography and Video with a Canon DSLR

2009-08-18T11:29:00.001-07:00

Kashless.org asked me to create a commercial for their first ad campaign. It was a very interesting project that involved shooting simple images of objects to be posted on their site (see last post), print them, shoot a video and add a voiceover and soundtrack (make sure your sound is on!). A lot of people got involved and we had a decent budget to do a good job.

The fun part came from using a DSLR camera to shoot both images and video. I used an old Sony to get the "casual" Polaroid look to the images and the used the new Canon Rebel (500D or T1i in the US) to shoot a short video at 30fps. We used natural light and cut the video using Final Cut Express. A couple of trick I learned: remember to lock the exposure and use a fixed white balance (not AWB!) to keep the movie as homogeneous as possible.

That Polaroid Look

2009-08-01T23:06:00.001-07:00

So the client asked for a set of images to use in a video. The images had to have the distinctive "Polaroid look" to evoke a mood that is casual but elegant, artsy but spontaneous, practical but environmentally conscious. "Umm, well OK" I said. How does this translate in photographic terms? Polaroid images are famous for being blurry, having blown highlights, strong vignetting and a somewhat shallow depth of field. Yellowish high tones, blueish shadows and low color saturation are also part of that look.

Rather than grabbing a Polaroid camera and some old film
I decided to shoot with an (old) digital camera. I will have more control on the results the images won't need to be scanned and I will be able to make higher resolution prints. Using a point and shoot instead of my trusted DSLR will make the images look a little more casual. Like, a dude who got a lucky shot. But how do I change the color scheme and tones to get the desired "Polaroid" look. Enters Lightroom and its famous presets. The LR community has developed a number of them that are freely available and easy to install. So I got a few, tweaked them to my liking (usually reducing contrast, adding more vignetting and changing the color balance. And here are some of the results. Not bad.

I say Tomato, you say Product Photography.

2009-07-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of the Strobist blog. It's one of my favorite sources of info on equipment, techniques and up and coming commercial photographers. OK enough gushing. The neat thing is the assignments. They are usually commercially themed, clearly explained, you submit your image to Flickr and there you go. You end up staring at a few hundred awesome images from photographers all over the world, including a lot of pros. You might even win a prize.

This time the theme was "Food". So I submitted an image of a pile of tomatoes. The set up was easy: main backlight (softboxed ABs) and 2 focused accent lights, one on the knife blade (bounced on a small card) and the other on the spices in the background. Water drops and a temperature shift give it a warm slightly vintage "shiny" look. I took a few shots with my 24-70 Canon (f4, 50mm, ISO100) AND with my brand new Lensbaby 2.0. I liked the LensBaby, but I 'd suggest to shoot product tethered with it as the soft spot is small even at f8-10. The bokeh is fun and quite suggestive of motion. (it's the image on the left and I know tomatoes do not move). I am looking into getting the Lensbaby 3, which has a focus lock. One could step up getting a Canon Tilt Shift, I have also seen good reviews about arax.com...

Have a Leibovitz Day: Lighting with a Softlighter II

2009-06-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

I have become a big fan of the Softlighter II. It's an umbrella with a diffuser sheet at the front that takes both strobes and shoe mount flashes. It can even be used as a shoot through umbrella. I have the SL-5000. (it's the medium sized) It takes a few minutes to assemble and gives about 11 sq feet of light surface. With a Canon 580ex II and the silver reflector inside I get a guide number of about 40 ( f4 at 10 feet at 100 ISO).

I mostly use it outdoor, mounted on a boom or a light stand, both as a fill or as a main light. It seems quite durable, and a bargain for the price (less than $100). I am not the only one to like it, as apparently Annie Leibovitz is a fan. (or at least she uses something VERY similar here and here). The smaller softlighter is perfect for indoor shots. I like the different looks I can achieve with it.

Lower image: This punchy shot was taken on a sunny afternoon on a silver painted roof. Sun is coming from top left and the Softlighter is one foot to the left of the model (Hey Hiroko!), on a boom being held by an assistant (hey Dave). Shot at ISO 100 1/125th, 32mm f11. The Canon flash was firing at 3/4 power.

Top Image: This set up, which drew inspiration from some of Annie Liebovitz work, was taken at sunset, the Softlighter is at camera left held high above the two models at about 10 feet. (Robin, ModelMayhem #380658 and Gene). ISO 100, 1/160th 24mm f4.0. The image palette and contrast have been modified a bit with PS. Flash at half power.

Cleaning Up.

2009-06-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

The web is choke full of suggestions on how to clean up photo equipment (easier than fix the problems mentioned in the previous post alas), so last week end I finally got myself a small bottle of Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol 70% ... And voila' I cleaned my camera body, my Pocket Wizards, my computer screen and pretty much anything I had within reach ...it works! Not bad for $1.89 (which will last me forever). I was assisting on a shoot yesterday and noticed that they were using some fancy cleaning clothes that used the same main ingredient.
Make sure to use a soft cloth and try on a small, forgotten corner of your equipment first, you know... just in case.

Thinking about Modeling? Read This First.

2009-06-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

This a link to a new documentary on the fashion industry.

And this is the corresponding article on the Guardian.

Depressing.

Revenge of the Cheap Ring Flash Adapter.

2009-06-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

I have been using a ring flash for the past few months. It makes for really dynamical images with saturated colors. I even use it to shoot flowers. The image on the left was taken with Profoto equipment: Ring Flash, two gridded strobe heads (one on each side), one behind the subject (Hey Luna!) and one large softbox close to camera left. However, a ring Flash, four strobes and a large softbox is quite an expensive set of equipment to own and will set you back a few grands.

So what if I only have $80 and buy one of the cheap Ring Flash Adapters that one can find on the web? They are pretty cool, you mount them on top of your Speedlite (I have the Canon 580X II), you hotshoe it on camera and you can even shoot TTL with it if you like. I have found mine on ebay (It's called "COCO"), but you can find one very similar here. Or you can buy the well known "Ray Flash" for about $200. The right image was shot with it and an optically slaved Alien Bee softbox at camera left.

The obvious, large difference is the power output. At the lowest power output of the power pack the Profoto Ring Flash still shoots at f20!; the Coco+Speedlite has a guide number of about 35 (i.e: at ISO100 you can shoot at f3.5 at 10 feet with the Speedlite at full power). The adapter only uses 1.5 stops of light compared to the naked Speedlite, not bad! So if you need depth of field
or need to shoot outdoors AND have the cash definitely go for the Profoto, but be prepared to temporarily blind your subject if you are not careful and go after that notorious "Ring Flash" look. (Note: the Ray Flash has an official GN of 45 with the same Speedlite, so it is a bit more efficient than the COCO).

The adapter allows for a slightly different look: I shot the image on the right at ISO 100, f2.8, wide angle and at 1/16 power for the Speedlite. I was at about 2 feet from the subject (Hey Lucianne!). This combination allows for two effects: a sharp light falloff and shallow dept of field. I think I dig it.

What's cooler than being cool? Ice cold.

2009-02-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

I had to shoot clear glass and I wanted to make a dynamic image with a lot of punch. I am quite pleased with the outcome. So here is how I did it. First of all his is actually a composite of four different shots using the same glass, but each glass was shot in the same way. The background is a large light box lit with two Profoto heads.

The glass is lit with a top strip light softbox. The table top is is white, with a glass sheet on top. However, the glass comes off from the back edge of the table and that's were the highball glass sits. Makes sense? You get the cool reflection at the front, but the bottom of the glass is partially illuminated by the back light and the table edge, being transparent is barely visible and easily disguised with Photoshop.

The ice cubes ..they are plastic fakes, but look super cool and it'd be much harder to do the shot with real ice, as it would melt quickly and ... float. The drink in the glass is just water with some corn syrup, to give it the surface tension of say, vodka (this is an important detail, do not overlook this). The colored stuff is just diluted food dye. However, getting the cool patterns as the dye drops in the glass was not easy. I used a small syringe to drop the dye from a few inches above the glass. First I diluted the dye into water and that did not work. The dye would just form a layer at the top without actually mixing. Not cool. The trick was to dilute the dye not in water but in mostly pure corn syrup, which is much denser and heavier. Once dropped into the highball glass it'd sink creating a wake of cool ripples. Expose with the background almost a pure white (but not overblown) and the glasses a couple of stops darker. Minor Photoshop post processing, mostly retouching and increased the contrast in the shadows a tad.

Shot at ISO 100 f22, 1/125th, power pack with equal power for the background and the strip light, so about 800wsec total. The Profoto heads were great and having a fast recycle time crucial to get several images every time I dropped the dye. If you are doing this at home and have less power just open up a couple of stops and you should be fine.

Flowers. Add water.

2009-02-13T20:01:00.001-08:00

Aren't flowers pretty? So the assignment was to shoot flowers "with hard light". As the key
I used a small Alien Bee strobe( +grid) to camera right just above camera and a cheapo Sunpack
to camera left, behind and below the flowers. A foam core board provides fill and the black background cover some of the light from the Sunpack. The Alien Bee gives the texture in the red flower and lights the drops at camera right. The Sunpak lights the yellow flower from behind.
There is also a little gobo just below the flowers at camera left. The water was just a simple plant sprayer that I was rather furiously pumping while taking shots. Getting the time right was the difficult bit. I am quite ahppy with the result; the cross lighting sculpts the stems and the general backlighting lights up the water drops against the dark background. Optional: I added a small negative temperature shift in Lightroom to make the water look bluer.

Now the important bit: How do I get the water drops sharp? Shutter speed is largely irrelevant as the max sync speed is 1/160th and the flash duration is shorter anyway..but how much shorter? I needed the flash "pulse" to be as short as possible. As a first attempt using the strobes at ~ 1/2 power and setting the camera at iso 100 and f16 produced streaks with each water drop. Not good.

The solution is to lower the power of each strobe, as that makes the light pulse shorter in duration. Less light = larger aperture...however, I wanted the depth of field to stay decent as we want the drops to appear sharp. A good compromise was to shoot at ISO400 and f11, lowering the AB power to 1/16th- and the Sunpak at 1/8th.

The final camera settings: ISO400, shutter speed 1/160th, f11, 52mm.

Overall shooting time: 45 mins. I like flowers.

Bright Shiny Things

2009-01-05T20:52:00.000-08:00

The assignment calls for "soft tungsten lights", so I had been looking for an object that would have actually been easier to photograph using tungsten lights rather than strobes.

This is usually the case when the object is itself a light source that the strobes would overpower even when dialed down. So here it is: a Mac ThinAir in a Crumpler bag.

The light scheme starts super simple: a softbox over the bag (higher on camera side, almost touching the bag at the back) ), with the modeling light on. That gives the nice diffuse light on the cover of the ThinAir and the soft shadows. I then added a white LED light inside the bag to add a little more punch to the white light that comes from the keyboard. The computer is on so that the Apple logo is illuminated. The red bag adds a nice touch of color, but with the tungsten lights balance the computer looks yellowish and the bag has no punch....

The solution is to actually color balance on a grey card. That makes the alluminum a perfect gray and shifts the LED light to the blue: the red bag becomes more saturated and the keyboard now gives a cool "high tech" glow. The logos in the back are sligthly blurred, but that is a feature to
highlight the front corner and make the picture more 3D. There is ample space for text if it is needed. Shot at 100ISO, 50mm,5' exposure. Only minor blemishes retouches in postproduction.

Dear Richard, it's on.

2008-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

I have been doing some research on Richard Avedon's work. It is obviously a different approach to the subject compared to others of his time (much colder and well a little predatory compared to the sympathetic one of say Irving Penn). But is it just about throwing in a perfectly white background (and having your subject stand up for an hour?) Not really, as his subjects are actually fairly low contrast (with the exception of the signature slightly overblown skin). I suspect burning and dodging only played a secondary role, and the "signature look" was actually a very distinctive light histogram distribution (in PS lingo) , that back in the day was achieved by using specific developing techniques. So I am doing some research....
This is a good way to (self) describe his work:
"I've worked out of a series of no's. No to exquisite light, no to apparent compositions, no to the seduction of poses or narrative. And all these no's force me to the "yes." I have a white background. I have the person I'm interested in and the thing that happens between us. "

This paragraph was taken from a comment by Jay Johnson on a photo forum.

Back in the 60's, 70's and 80's that NYC fashion guys were big into what everyone is calling the "Avedon look" including Avedon.

Most popular was shooting Tri-X overexposed (pushed to 1200 or more) with a #25 red filter. The models were made up with black lipstick and black nail polish. The film was processed in Dektol 1:3 or 1:4 at 70F for 4-5 minutes after a pre-soak.

This technique results in a porcelain looking skin and a soft but high contrast look that glows."

Will give it a try.

With a Little Help from my Friends.

2008-11-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

This is a simple attempt at balancing
day light with a Q Flash and a softbox. I tried to be subtle, but the effect is quite evident. The flash was 1.5 yards from the model (hey Laurie!) at camera left pointed a bit down. Shot at 32mm 1/100th f 4.0 ISO 100. Flash power down to 1/8. Note to self: use longer focal length for better blurring of background+make flash less evident.

Joe Six Pack

2008-10-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

How appropriate. This is a simple product shot done with a digital SLR. The camera is at 45deg.
3 strobes. two softboxes left and camera right with edges close to lens. One gridded flood pointing to the white background under the table level. First set with the Sekonic L-758dr light meter, and the 24-70 f2.8 Canon lens. I know, I upgraded.

Incident dome metering pointing at camera on the near corner of the box. Shutter speed 125th.

-1 all lights: f5.6 Each soft strobe: f4.0. Background f1.2 Shot at f4.5
-2 all lights : f16 Each soft strobe: f11. Background 2. Shot at f14.5

The background measure just shows that there is little spill to the front of the beer pack. The intensity at the background remains the same, it meters f32.5 for the second configuration , 1.5 stops above the midgray at the pack.

Note: the smaller aperture shot is colder by 300k. I corrected with Lightroom.

The whole exercise is about learning to control the depth of field and using minimal postproduction re adjusting. The fun part will be to compare with a 4x5 shot with tungsten lights that I have lined up. Stay Tuned....

The Dark Smurf

2008-09-13T11:53:00.001-07:00

This is a good example of object photography that mimics the set up in a larger space.

Just over and left of the little Smurf is a simple 3 joints table lamp with a metal conic shade and a 60w light bulb. The lamp is so close that it acts as a big softbox for the metal mug on which the Dark Smurf is perched upon. The light is angled down so that the background (just a foot behind) does not receive direct light. Result: a nice light gradient. The bottom is a white table which helps diffusing light. Camera (an old Sony DSC-W3C) settings: ISO 160 f3.2 1/100th EV -1. The mug and the handle were de-focused with Gaussian Blur. I dodged the Smurf and the immediate background just a little bit.

Got the Smurf on a trip to Friburg, Germany. I was six.

One more Retro Portrait

2008-06-17T21:33:00.001-07:00

This is composition 24 from
"Lighting for portraiture" a great book from Walter Nurnberg
The light scheme is shown here (the softbox on the left was not on), with my favorite take on the left.
The interesting deviation from the "by the book approach" is the light on the right arm and hand. It came from a window I forgot to completely obscure. Compare with the right take.

Photoshop tricks:
- Temp: K5650
- colors substantially unsaturated
- increased contrast on jacket and shirt.
- some minor skin retouching.

Things to improve:

- Not happy with the double highlights in the model's eyes.
- The background light in the right take is a little too distracting.
- Added Oct 08. Contrast between key and fill a tad too low.

Background Test for Apnea style photo.

2008-06-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

She is the lovely Apnea. The photo was taken by the awesome Lithium Picnic. I am not sure about the subject on the right, but that is beside the point. The lighting is subtle, if simple, so how did he do it? My light set up is above...it is a quick first attempt. The interesting bits are the background color gradient and where the lights were. I suspect a bit of photoshopping to brighten up the subject. There is definitely a large softbox as fill (it shines on the rubber at camera left). The light set up I used is below. ISO 100 f9.0 1/160 18mm. Subject at 2ft from background 800ws Octabox and Softbox at 1/32. Diffused 400ws strobe at 1/8th. Lights 6ft high. (the diffused strobe might not be necessary..).

The color gradient was achieved with two layers and the "curves" command. The reddish one was erased on the right. I roughly matched the background colors from the original. The man skin is obviously darker than hers. Things that did not work out: there are two shadows on the right! and not enough detail in the darks. (note: her right background reads 82 87 90). What to do?

Move octabox to center and closer to subject. Add a tad more fill, but not on background.
Lower both softboxes one foot.
Move strobe a little further away?
Right softbox at same distance as subject.
subject a bit further from background.

High Key and Others.

2008-03-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday I explored a range of styles, with some loose inspiration from W magazine and Christine Kessler work: bold colors and accessories, strong lights, often with a simple silver umbrella+flash as the main source and backgrounds with saturated colors.

1-First try in the "Green Room". ISO 200, f 4.5, 22mm 1/160th. In Lightroom: +Vibrance and Green Saturation. Less global Saturation. Darks -30. Yeah Punchy. A bit of Liquify to make the coat fit better. The light scheme is here.

2-The Couch. (Note: people seem to like this one) The trick here is to keep the couch a few feet away from the red wall. No Shadows! Two softboxes (see scheme) and the umbrella in the back as extra fill. ISO 100, 27mm, f9, 1/160th.

The vignetting was added in post production.

3-High Key. This was shot in a corridor overlooking the studio. The big flashes where all at max power in the room behind the model. I used the Vivitar+silver Umbrella as fill at 1/16th and several feet away, with a blue filter to make the scene a bit colder, as the reflections from the studio wall + sunlight (see below) where yellowish. I do not think the filter mattered much in post production. Iso400 (that was silly) 27mm, f5.0, 1/160th. With these settings there was additional sun light from the outside. Model: Angela A.

Bag it Up.

2008-01-31T21:11:00.000-08:00

My first foray in object photography. This is a line of bags with a vintage look. So I decided they should not look too blingy, but rather have a bit of an understated tone.

The setup is here on the left. It is a bit complicated, but not really. A snooted strobe with a blue gel to give the "halo"
on the background. Two softboxes to give uniform light and two small strobes (the one on the left with gobos, the one on the right with a mini diffuser) to add a bit of edge and sparkle to the objects.

Skin Retouching

2008-01-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

I am following this very detailed walkthrough .

This a nice shot of Justice and Robin (make up Kristin Von Claret) after some basic skin retouching with the healing tool and the procedure described in the above link.

Obscure notes to self: if I had to burn or dodge some specific areas:
- layer
- create a new layer
- overlay
-fill with 50% gray

When it is time to create the skin mask for the filters involved in the skin retouching (Lens Blur and High pass) go to the Channels Palette. Make an Alpha Channel and erase/burn as desired. Then turn your newly remodeled Alpha Channel/Mask into a selection: Go back to the Layers Palette and, making sure your layer (I use the top layer that contains all the sublayers) is the Active Layer, click on the third-from-the-right-button on the bottom of the Layers Palette which will turn your still-selected new Alpha Channel into that Layer's new Layer Mask. (this last detail is not in the skin retouching howto).

Photographers prefer Brunettes

2007-10-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Professional, beautiful, easy to work with, on time. What could I ask for more? Oh yes a great stylist.

The b/w was done with the model reclining on the couch (Pillow is for Posture!). Flood high above turned down quite a bit. 50mm at f2.5, 1/160th, ISO100. Tiny flash (and stylist!) hiding just a foot behind. Photoshop: add a layer with a 10px gaussian blur, mask eyes and lips. Fix small blemishes on the main photo. Merge layers. Unsharp mask. A little subtler than previous attempt.

Red Shirt: Easy. Vivitar high on camera left, power 1/16th. added mini softbox. White reflective board at lower right. I almost botched the shot though. Best focus is on lips rather than eyes!

High Key: The big softbox set up as discussed a couple of posts ago. A little off center so the left side gets less light. Or I could have added a semi transparent gobo. f2.5

Model: Robin

Stylist: Kristin Von Klaret

Lighting for Portraiture: Combination 8

2007-10-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

"Lighting for Portraiture (Walter Nurber, The Focal Press, 1948) is a classic manual for "Retro" portraits. Each pose is illustrated in painful detail ..all 64 of them. The book is written for tungsten lighting, but it can easily be used with modern strobes. I really like this book, got from Amazon for $15. So I decided to slowly reproduce every combination. It will take a while.
We start with C8, which is good for men. Picture and diagram as follow.

Camera set on 1/160th/f6.8/ISO100. 50mm lens.
- 800wsec Flood: 1/16th at 35deg, 10 feet from subject, 6feet from ground. light "feathering" body and face.

- Vivitar: 1/16th, on the ground, 2feet from dark wall, pointing up, gobo to limit light towards ceiling.

Note for 'd be models: to get the right look stare at the camera and turn eyes left and up, keeping neck still.
Framing the shoulder on camera left is important for the mood of the shot. Keeping the flood as far as possible makes shadows harder. Nose shadow: do not let it touch the upper lip (a capital crime in the 40ies...). The original portrait used a snoot on the flood light so the look is a little more low key and dramatic there.

Looking Rita

2007-10-19T20:28:00.001-07:00

One more "Retro" portrait.
The light scheme is straightforward, with camera setting: 40mm, ISO100, 1/160th, f10? The neck shadow took a bit to get right. The flood should have been further back for stronger shadows.

The soft focus effect was achieved in Photoshop.

- some basic cloning for skin blemishes
- Gaussian blur 10px
- Gaussian Fade 50%
- unsharp m. at 120%
- added bluish duotone.

The lights setting is similar to the "Bogart" set, but not quite. The flood is set much higher over the model.

Model: Brittney Bush Bollay.

Close Ups

2007-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is a rather "en vogue" style for portraiture these days, easy to achieve if you have a softbox (or a ringflash). Of course having a subject with big eyes helps......
So this is how I did it.

The trick it is to keep subject, lens, light as close as possible to each other.

0) I mounted a 50mm lens on your camera. My settings were: 1/160th,ISO100,f1.8 (or the smallest fstop you can afford). That will make your depth of field SMALL. We are talking a fraction of an inch. The subject's nose and the eyebrows will be decidedly unsharp. Eyes have to be as sharp as possible for the portrait to work.

1) place subject seated in front of the largest softbox you have.
1b) use a uniform, white/light gray background.
2) place camera eye level as close as possible to subject while you can still focus (likely a couple of feet)
3) place softbox behind camera as close as possible to it.
4) use spot focusing on the subject eyes. Not the nose bridge!
5) take picture.

Postprocess:

- turn down red, magenta by %20. Increase blue by 10-20% This will increase skin detail.
- use curves to brighten mid-high tones. Darken the dark tones a bit.
- burn dark contour lines a bit (chin, neck)
- dodge eyes and hair a bit.
- unsharp mask the whole pic by at least 100%.

Wonder if I should have used a brigther background.

Model Credit: Brittney

How does he do this?

2007-10-12T22:35:00.001-07:00

This is a self portrait of photographer Kevin Kertz.
How does he get the cartoonish look? I have seen this style around... I like it and will try to find out how it is done.

(added note: maybe the High Pass Filter is involved)

The New Bogart

2007-10-12T22:33:00.001-07:00

This image is a remake of a famous portrait of Humphrey Bogart, taken in 1942 by "Scotty" Welbourne. (will post the original as well).

I did not have a light trenchcoat so the background is dark. The setting is simple: a low key (nose shadow) on camera right, a more central fill, and a kicker for the back.

Postprocessing:

-blurred the lower part of the trenchcoat+tie over 1-2 pixels.
-added a bluish duotone

I like the final image, but think the results are mixed and I would do better now:

- lighter background and coat 'd have made shadows more dramatic
-I can't really see the back kicker...
- the mouth shadow is too horizontal and "Joker like"
-I could have emphasized the eye wrinkles more if the key had been more on camera right.
- I did get the key height right though, the nose shadow is good.

The light scheme is at the top. (Used the Kertz psd file!)

Model Credit: Chris.

Ligthing Diagrams

2007-10-12T22:07:00.001-07:00

I have found two ways of setting light diagrams.

Neat Flash Diagrams can be created and then accessed on the web at www.sdgphoto.com/lightingstudio

A library of Photoshop simbols has been developed by Kevin Kertz. He is a really great photographer with a very modern look. Some examples can be found here.

The Studio

2007-10-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

My studio is about 230 sq.feet, with a 12' ceiling and 4 large windows on 2 sides and wood floors. The equipment is in between the minimalism of "the Strobist" and that of a professional studio.

As for Dec 2008 (updated)

Lights:

Strobes: 2 x800wsec 1 x 400wsec (Alien Bees)
1 Vivitar 285HV
1 Canon 580x II
2 Qflashes

Light modifiers:

1 large Octabox (Alien Bees)
1 rectangular softbox (Alien Bees)
1 snoot (the 6$ PVC DIY version)
1 white reflector
umbrellas.

Electronics and Glass:
Rebel XT '06
50mm f1.8 Canon lens.
24-70mm f2.8 Canon
those cheapo Honk Hong wireles triggers. 3 slaves+ 1 master.
2 Pocket Wizards

Hardware (like in steel..): a great ceiling rail system I got from an Amvona super sale.

Software:

Photoshop.
Lightroom.

We are talking about $4.5k total.

Why Another Photography Blog?

2007-09-06T00:23:00.001-07:00

This blog will mostly focus on studio photography and lighting techniques and this will be my personal notebook. I will discuss some of the photos I have taken and make notes of the light and camera setup in my studio. Where was the key light? What was the f-stop? Which lens did I use? Right. I realized I needed a blog. It is mostly for myself and a small circle of friend photographers, but why not make it public?

These days I am mostly interested in black and white portrait photography, with an eye on the Hollywood style of the 30ies-50ies. I love images with a lot of contrast and the ageless glamour that is associated with work of that period. But I am often distracted by work of more modern photographers and sometimes I will try to "reverse engineer" photos I have seen on magazines and on the web.

Oh yes, me. I am a Seattle based photographer, but my main job has to do with science. Intriguingly enough it still deals with light and darkness.

My photography website is here: www.seattledigitalart.com